For Wolfpack, uneasy draft day followed unsmooth season

RALEIGH — The end of the season disturbed North Carolina State men’s basketball coach Mark Gottfried.

The offseason hasn’t been all that much better based on last week’s NBA Draft.

Still, Gottfried, who’ll enter his third season in the fall, put a positive spin on the work that’s going on within the program in assessing what’s bound to be a season of challenges.

Gottfried is left with four returning scholarship players, and one of them (LSU transfer Ralston Turner) didn’t play last season.

Yet it’s difficult to totally turn the page on the Wolfpack without acknowledging the shortcomings from the potential-rich 2012-13 team. The evaluation went further sour during the NBA Draft.

Lorenzo Brown and C.J. Leslie opted to go to the draft and give up returning for senior seasons. Leslie wasn’t drafted at all. Brown went with the 22nd selection of the second round to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“I was disappointed in the draft,” Gottfried said Tuesday.

Gottfried’s conversations with NBA scouts and executives led him to believe that there would be earlier interest in Brown, a point guard who particularly excels in transition.

As for Leslie, a forward whose talents sometimes were overshadowed by a perception of moodiness, the feedback was “all over the board,” according to Gottfried.

“Some teams were concerned with how hard he plays,” he said. “Some teams had their mind made up and it was hard to change them.”

Leslie will try to make the New York Knicks roster as a free agent.

“I do believe that Calvin could be a really good NBA player,” Gottfried said. “I think he’s going to make their roster, and I actually think he’ll play for them this year.”

Outgoing seniors Richard Howell and Scott Wood also were undrafted. Howell has latched on with a summer league opportunity with the Denver Nuggets. Gottfried figures this route might be ideal for Howell, a power forward with a knack for rebounding.

“Richard Howell has been an underdog all his life,” the coach said. “That’s kind of familiar territory for Richard.”

N.C. State wasn’t supposed to be an underdog in 2012-13, but the script adapted in the preseason didn’t prove true.

Gottfried said if he had a chance to change something from last season it would be the first half of the NCAA Tournament game against Temple. The Wolfpack fell behind miserably and lost its tournament opener in Dayton, Ohio.

That wrapped up a season of fluctuations accompanied by a 24-11 record.

“We did not get done what we all wanted to get done,” Gottfried said.

He said he realizes high expectations have diminished from outsiders for the 2013-14 team. That’s present even in the grocery store, where a recent visit from Gottfried brought about a commentary on the state of the Wolfpack basketball program.

“Hang in there, Coach,” an N.C. State supporter offered in a form of encouragement. “I know it’s going to be a long year for you.”

As if the past year hasn’t had enough topics to contribute to such a statement.